Stephanie Gaskell of the New York Daily News reported last week that the “New York Times cafeteria food may be past its deadline.”  According to the Daily News, “[t]he Health Dept. is investigating cases of possible food poisoning at the New York Times cafeteria. …The dining room at the paper’s headquarters on Eighth Ave. and 40th St. was shut down Thursday after several employees fell ill with digestive problems. …The kitchen and dining areas are being sanitized and all prepared foods have been tossed. …Health inspectors are on the case but said Thursday night they still haven’t found the cause.”

Interesting, I have not eaten there, but did have a cup of coffee a few months ago when I stopped in after giving a speech to some insurance executives in downtown. My suspicion is that the food industry might well feel that the Times is getting its “just deserts” (sorry) after Michael Moss’s coverage of the underbelly of what we eat in his recent two articles, “E. coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection,” where he profiled the plight of my client, Stephanie Smith, and “Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned,” where is profiled what is served to us allegedly as hamburger.

Rumor has it that Moss has been out ill – hope it was not the pasta salad and I hope he returns soon. Clearly, he needs to turn is pen on the folks running the cafeteria.